The Pig That Wants To Be Eaten: And 99 Other Thought Experiments

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Description

Julian Baggini presents 100 thought experiments - short scenarios which pose a problem in a vivid and concrete way - and invites the reader to think about possible answers for him/herself. Experiments cover identity, religion, art, ethics, language, knowledge and many more. From Zeno's paradox to Groundhog Day (how do you make sense of a life of eternal recurrence), via the pig that wants to be eaten (so should you eat him), Plato's cave, Minority Report (is it right to punish people for what they are going to do, but haven't yet done), and an American Werewolf in London (how can we tell whether we are awake or dreaming), this book makes philosophy not only mind-stretching but also entertaining.

Reviews

Baggini offers us a tempting smorgasbord of some of the most baffling, weird and occasionally downright creepy scenarios ever envisaged... enjoy these mind-boggling tales from the outer limit of thought * Guardian *
This book is like the Sudoku of moral philosophy: apply your mind to any of its "thought experiments" while stuck on the Tube, and quickly be transported out of rush-hour hell * New Statesman *
Thinking again is what this taut, incisive, bullet-hard book is dedicated to promoting * Sunday Times *
An eloquent and engaging introduction to the major philosophical quandaries * Scotland on Sunday *
An engaging read ... It's one to which I'll keep returning - whenever I feel like an argument and have nobody to argue with * Sunday Herald *
An eloquent and engaging introduction to the major philosophical quandaries about identity, knowledge, morality and rationality.It is the best kind of popularising work: amusing enough to provide an easy way into difficult questions, but uncompromising in terms of the meanings deduced from the fables * Scotland on Sunday *
Baggini frames various philosophical conundrums so that we focus on the nub of the matter without the extraneous considerations that complicate them in real life... helpfully cross- referenced and ideal for reading aloud * Metro (London) *

Author Bio

Julian Baggini is the editor and co-founder of The Philosophers' Magazine. His books include Do You Think What You Think You Think (with Jeremy Stangroom), What's It All About: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life and The Pig That Wants to be Eaten, all published by Granta Books.